Thursday, October 17, 2013

UK Military Medical Advances saving lives at home

From the MoD:

Military medical techniques saving lives at home

Published 17 October 2013

A lifesaving process, inspired by military practices, has been
introduced by a UK major trauma centre to treat critically ill patients.

A Medical Emergency Response Team carrying out lifesaving work in AfghanistanThe major trauma centre at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London,
has launched a new streamlined patient pathway based on military medical
techniques honed in Afghanistan to improve the survival rates of
patients with gunshot or stab wounds. It is believed to be the first
major trauma centre in the UK to take this new approach.Based on a protocol developed at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan in 2005
to treat the most seriously injured casualties as quickly as possible,
the process involves bypassing the resuscitation room and taking
casualties straight to theatre for surgery to stem bleeding and improve
the chances of recovery.

A soldier receives treatment for a gunshot wound to his upper arm on
operations (library image) [Picture: Corporal Ralph Merry RAF, Crown
copyright]Rapid resuscitation transit aims to reduce the ‘knife to skin’ time –
the length of time between a patient’s arrival at an emergency
department and potentially lifesaving surgery – by streamlining medical
investigations.

When a patient with gunshot or stab wounds arrives at the major
trauma centre, investigations and tests are prioritised and limited to
the most crucial, such as taking a single blood sample and carrying out
essential scans....